Orland Park pushes tax rebate program online

Ashley Rueff, Chicago Tribune reporter

Orland Park homeowners looking forward to a village tax rebate shouldn't wait for an application form to appear in their mailboxes this year.

Instead, village officials said during a Sept. 4 board meeting that they will ask residents to log on to a website set up for the 2012 tax rebate program and apply electronically — a move officials said should save time and help avoid errors by village staff.

After discontinuing the village practice of rebating property taxes to residents in 2009, officials agreed to revive the program, at least for the year. The village committee voted in July to rebate $2.5 million in 2011 property taxes paid by homeowners in 2012.

In previous years, the process was all done through hard copy applications that residents received in the mail and then submitted to village hall. Staff then entered information for each of the applicants into a database. Officials said on average, about 18,500 applications were received each year.

By asking people to instead submit information online, officials said staff will then only need to verify the information.

"We have a much better quality assurance with that approach," said Village Manager Paul Grimes. "It's also more efficient."

Still, residents who prefer to apply with hard copies are welcome to do so. The applications will be available at village hall and other municipal buildings.

"We clearly want people to apply online," Grimes said. "But for those who don't, they can still do a paper application."

The village is working on a training video that should help residents understand how to apply electronically, said public information officer Joe La Margo.

In addition to filling out application forms online, residents also must attach other documents such as utility bills to prove their eligibility. One option for doing so electronically is to actually take a photo of a document with a smart phone and then upload it with the online application.

"We've had a couple internal conversations about how to make this as easy as humanly possible for our residents," Grimes said.

Finance Director Annmarie Mampe said her office is working on a feature that would allow residents to simply enter the account number associated with their water account instead of needing to attach a copy of a bill.

"It is one less piece of paper residents have to scan," she said.

To get the word out about the change in procedure this year, the village still plans to mail postcards to residents explaining the program and the tax rebate website. Those mailers should go out in mid- to late-October, La Margo said. The website, which can be found at optaxrebate.com, should also be up and running at about the same time.

After submitting the applications online, residents will receive an e-mail letting them know their materials were accepted. The deadline to apply for the rebate is Dec. 7 and residents can expect their checks by the end of March 2013.

Rebates will be divided evenly among applicants, which means based on the number of residents who applied in previous years and the $2.5 million to be rebated, applicants can expect checks for about $137, according to village estimates.